RRC group reject method and apparatus for mobile communications

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for transmitting a single RRC group reject message to reject the RRC connection requests of a plurality of terminals, thus minimizing the waste of radio resources and providing a quick response to those terminals that transmitted a request. A list containing initial UE identities of those terminals to be rejected, and a rejection cause indicating the reason for rejection are included in the single RRC group reject message. Preferably, the list should be generated within a certain time limit to prevent some terminals from re-transmitting their RRC connection requests.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), this application claims thebenefit of earlier filing date and right of priority to KoreanApplication No. 2003-0029468, filed on May 9, 2003, the contents ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus forfacilitating RRC connection between a terminal and UTRAN in a UMTS(Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) and, more particularly, amethod and apparatus for facilitating RRC group reject through which theUTRAN may perform RRC connection reject using a single messagetransmitted to a plurality of terminals.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] A universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) is aEuropean-type, third generation IMT-2000 mobile communication systemthat has evolved from a European standard known as Global System forMobile communications (GSM). UMTS is intended to provide an improvedmobile communication service based upon a GSM core network and widebandcode division multiple access (W-CDMA) wireless connection technology.

[0006] In December 1998, a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)was formed by the ETSI of Europe, the ARIB/TTC of Japan, the T1 of theUnited States, and the TTA of Korea. The 3GPP creates detailedspecifications of UMTS technology. In order to achieve rapid andefficient technical development of the UMTS, five technicalspecification groups (TSG) have been created within the 3GPP forstandardizing the UMTS by considering the independent nature of thenetwork elements and their operations.

[0007] Each TSG develops, approves, and manages the standardspecification within a related region. Among these groups, the radioaccess network (RAN) group (TSG-RAN) develops the standards for thefunctions, requirements, and interface of the UMTS terrestrial radioaccess network (UTRAN), which is a new radio access network forsupporting W-CDMA access technology in the UMTS.

[0008]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary basic structure of a general UMTSnetwork. As shown in FIG. 1, the UMTS is roughly divided into a terminalor user equipment (UE) 10, a UTRAN 20, and a core network (CN) 30.

[0009] The UTRAN 20 includes one or more radio network sub-systems (RNS)25. Each RNS 25 includes a radio network controller (RNC) 23 and aplurality of Node-Bs (base stations) 21 managed by the RNC 23. The RNC23 handles the assignment and management of radio resources and operatesas an access point with respect to the core network 30.

[0010] The Node-Bs 21 receive information sent by the physical layer ofthe terminal 10 through an uplink and transmit data to the terminal 10through a downlink. The Node-Bs 21 operate as access points of the UTRAN20 for the terminal 10.

[0011] The UTRAN 20 constructs and maintains a radio access bearer (RAB)for communication between the terminal 10 and the core network 30. Thecore network 30 requests end-to-end quality of service (QoS)requirements from the RAB, and the RAB supports the QoS requirements thecore network 30 has set. Accordingly, by constructing and maintainingthe RAB, the UTRAN 20 can satisfy the end-to-end QoS requirements.

[0012] The services provided to a specific terminal 10 are roughlydivided into the circuit switched (CS) services and the packet switched(PS) services. For example, a general voice conversation service is acircuit switched service, while a Web browsing service via an Internetconnection is classified as a packet switched (PS) service.

[0013] For supporting circuit switched services, the RNCs 23 areconnected to the mobile switching center (MSC) 31 of the core network 30and the MSC 31 is connected to the gateway mobile switching center(GMSC) 33 that manages the connection with other networks. Forsupporting packet switched services, the RNCs 23 are connected to theserving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) 35 andthe gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 37 of the core network 30. The SGSN35 supports the packet communications with the RNCs 23 and the GGSN 37manages the connection with other packet switched networks, such as theInternet.

[0014]FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of a radio interface protocolbetween the terminal 10 and the UTRAN 20 according to the 3GPP radioaccess network standards. As shown in FIG. 2, the radio interfaceprotocol has horizontal layers comprising a physical layer, a data linklayer, and a network layer, and has vertical planes comprising a userplane (U-plane) for transmitting user data and a control plane (C-plane)for transmitting control information.

[0015] The user plane is a region that handles traffic information withthe user, such as voice or Internet protocol (IP) packets. The controlplane is a region that handles control information for an interface witha network, maintenance and management of a call, and the like.

[0016] The protocol layers in FIG. 2 can be divided into a first layer(L1), a second layer (L2), and a third layer (L3) based on the threelower layers of an open system interconnection (OSI) standard model.

[0017] The first layer (L1), namely, the physical layer, provides aninformation transfer service to an upper layer by using various radiotransmission techniques. The physical layer is connected to an upperlayer called a medium access control (MAC) layer, via a transportchannel. The MAC layer and the physical layer exchange data via thetransport channel.

[0018] The second layer (L2) includes a MAC layer, a radio link control(RLC) layer, a broadcast/multicast control (BMC) layer, and a packetdata convergence protocol (PDCP) layer.

[0019] The MAC layer handles mapping between logical channels andtransport channels and provides allocation of the MAC parameters forallocation and re-allocation of radio resources. The MAC layer isconnected to an upper layer called the radio link control (RLC) layer,via a logical channel.

[0020] Various logical channels are provided according to the type ofinformation transmitted. In general, a control channel is used totransmit information of the control plane and a traffic channel is usedto transmit information of the user plane.

[0021] A logical channel may be a common channel or a dedicated channeldepending on whether the logical channel is shared. Logical channelsinclude a dedicated traffic channel (DTCH), a dedicated control channel(DCCH), a common traffic channel (CTCH), a common control channel(CCCH), a broadcast control channel (BCCH), and a paging control channel(PCCH). The BCCH provides information including information utilized bya terminal 10 to access a system. The PCCH is used by the UTRAN 20 toaccess a terminal 10.

[0022] The MAC layer is connected to the physical layer by transportchannels and can be divided into a MAC-b sub-layer, a MAC-d sub-layer, aMAC-c/sh sub-layer, and a MAC-hs sub-layer according to the type oftransport channel being managed. The MAC-b sub-layer manages a BCH(Broadcast Channel), which is a transport channel handling thebroadcasting of system information. The MAC-c/sh sub-layer manages acommon transport channel, such as a forward access channel (FACH) or adownlink shared channel (DSCH), which is shared by a plurality ofterminals. The MAC-d sub-layer manages a dedicated channel (DCH), whichis a dedicated transport channel for a specific terminal 10.Accordingly, the MAC-d sublayer is located in a serving RNC (SRNC) thatmanages a corresponding terminal, and one MAC-d sublayer also exists ineach terminal.

[0023] The RLC layer supports reliable data transmissions and performssegmentation and concatenation on a plurality of RLC service data units(SDUs) delivered from an upper layer. When the RLC layer receives theRLC SDUs from the upper layer, the RLC layer adjusts the size of eachRLC SDU in an appropriate manner based upon processing capacity and thencreates data units by adding header information thereto. The data units,called protocol data units (PDUs), are transferred to the MAC layer viaa logical channel. The RLC layer includes a RLC buffer for storing theRLC SDUs and/or the RLC PDUs.

[0024] The BMC layer schedules a cell broadcast (CB) message transferredfrom the core network and broadcasts the CB message to terminals 10positioned in a specific cell or cells.

[0025] The PDCP layer is located above the RLC layer. The PDCP layer isused to transmit network protocol data, such as the IPv4 or IPv6,effectively on a radio interface with a relatively small bandwidth. Forthis purpose, the PDCP layer reduces unnecessary control informationused in a wired network, a function called header compression.

[0026] The radio resource control (RRC) layer located at the lowestportion of the third layer (L3) is only defined in the control plane.The RRC layer controls the transport channels and the physical channelsin relation to setup, reconfiguration, and the release or cancellationof the radio bearers (RBs). The RB signifies a service provided by thesecond layer (L2) for data transmission between the terminal 10 and theUTRAN 20. In general, the set up of the RB refers to the process ofstipulating the characteristics of a protocol layer and a channelrequired for providing a specific data service, and setting therespective detailed parameters and operation methods.

[0027] The RRC state refers to whether there exists a logical connectionbetween the RRC of the terminal 10 and the RRC of the UTRAN 20. If thereis a connection, the terminal 10 is said to be in RRC connected state.If there is no connection, the terminal 10 is said to be in idle state.

[0028] For terminals 10 in RRC connected state, because an RRCconnection exists the UTRAN 20 can determine the existence of aparticular terminal within the unit of cells, for example which cell theRRC connected state terminal is in. Thus, the terminal 10 can beeffectively controlled.

[0029] In contrast, the UTRAN 20 cannot determine a terminal 10 in idlestate. Such idle state terminals 10 can only be determined by the corenetwork 30 to be within a region that is larger than a cell, namely, alocation or a routing area. Therefore, the existence of idle stateterminals 10 is determined within large regions, and, in order toreceive mobile communication services such as voice or data, the idlestate terminal must move or change into the RRC connected state.

[0030] When initially turned on by the user, a terminal 10 searches foran appropriate cell and then remains in idle state within thecorresponding cell. When the idle state terminal 10 requires RRCconnection, it transitions to the RRC connected state through an RRCconnection procedure so that an RRC connection is made with the RRClayer of the UTRAN 20.

[0031] There are many situations where an idle state terminal 10 needsto establish an RRC connection. When uplink data transmission isnecessary, for example when the user attempts to make a call, or whentransmitting a response message in reply to a paging message receivedfrom the UTRAN 20, an idle state terminal 10 must establish an RRCconnection. Another situation where an idle terminal 10 needs toestablish an RRC connection is in order to receive a multimediabroadcast multicast service (MBMS).

[0032] The 3GPP system can provide multimedia broadcast multicastservice (MBMS), which is a new type of service in Release 6. The 3GPPTSG SA (Service and System Aspect) defines various network elements andtheir functions required for supporting MBMS services. A cell broadcastservice provided by the conventional Release 99 is limited to a servicein which text type short messages are broadcast to a certain area. TheMBMS service provided by Release 6 is a more advanced service thatmulticasts multimedia data to terminals (UEs) 10 that have subscribed tothe corresponding service in addition to broadcasting multimedia data.

[0033] The MBMS service is a downward-dedicated service that provides astreaming or background service to a plurality of terminals 10 by usinga common or dedicated downward channel. The MBMS service is divided intoa broadcast mode and a multicast mode.

[0034] The MBMS broadcast mode facilitates transmitting multimedia datato every user located in a broadcast area, whereas the MBMS multicastmode facilitates transmitting multimedia data to a specific user grouplocated in a multicast area. The broadcast area signifies a broadcastservice available area and the multicast area signifies a multicastservice available area.

[0035] Users who desire to receive the MBMS service first receive aservice announcement provided by a network. The service announcementprovides the terminal 10 with a list of services to be provided andrelated information. In addition, the users must receive a servicenotification provided by the network. The service notification providesthe terminal 10 with information related to the broadcast data to betransmitted.

[0036] If the user intends to receive the multicast mode MBMS service,the user subscribes to a multicast subscription group. A multicastsubscription group is a group of users who have completed a subscriptionprocedure. Once a user has subscribed to the multicast subscriptiongroup, the user can join a multicast group to receive a specificmulticast service. A multicast group is a group of users that receive aspecific multicast service. Joining a multicast group, also referred toas MBMS multicast activation, means merging with the multicast groupthat has users who wish to receive the specific multicast service.Accordingly, the user can receive the specific multicast data by joininga multicast group, referred to as MBMS multicast activation.

[0037] The RNC 23 transfers the MBMS user data to the terminal 10through the base station (Node-B) 21 via the user plane of the UTRANprotocol. The UTRAN 20 transfers the MBMS user data by constructing andmaintaining a radio access bearer (RAB) for a call communication betweenthe terminal 10 and the core network 30. The MBMS user data istransferred only by downlink. The MBMS radio bearer facilitatestransferring, only to a specific terminal 10, the user data of aspecific MBMS service transferred by the core network 30 to the UTRAN20.

[0038] The MBMS radio bearer is divided into a point-to-multipoint typeand a point-to-point type. The UTRAN 20 selects one of the two types ofMBMS radio bearers to provide the MBMS service. To select one of the twoMBMS radio bearers, the UTRAN 20 should recognize the number of users,or terminals 10, of a specific MBMS service existing in one cell.

[0039] The UTRAN 20 may count the number of terminals 10 to determinethe type of MBMS radio bearer. The UTRAN 20 informs the terminals 10that it is counting the number of terminals when it provides informationabout the MBMS service via a MBMS common control channel or performspaging for a specific MBMS service group.

[0040] When a terminal 10 receives a service notification of an MBMSservice indicating that counting is being performed on the correspondingservice, the terminal establishes a connection between an RRC entity ofthe terminal and an RRC entity of the UTRAN 20 by transferring an RRCconnection request message to the UTRAN through an uplink commonchannel. The RRC connection request message informs the UTRAN 20 thatthe terminal 10 desires to receive the corresponding MBMS service.

[0041] By counting the number of terminals 10 that have transferred anRRC connection request message, the UTRAN 20 can recognize users whodesire to receive the specific MBMS service in one cell. The UTRAN 20then sets up an MBMS radio bearer on the basis of the count.

[0042] If the number of users, or terminals 10, existing in acorresponding cell is smaller than a certain threshold value, the UTRAN20 sets a point-to-point MBMS radio bearer. If the number of users, orterminals 10, existing in a corresponding cell is greater than or equalto a certain threshold value, the UTRAN sets a point-to-multipoint MBMSradio bearer. However, the conventional paging method through which theUTRAN 20 recognizes the number of terminals 10 that desire to receive anMBMS service has shortcomings.

[0043] When the UTRAN 20 performs the MBMS service notification,response messages, such as RRC response messages, are transmitted fromterminals 10 that desire to receive the MBMS service. The responsemessages are simultaneously concentrated at uplink channel, resulting inan increase in interference and load on the uplink. Because the UTRAN 20performs the MBMS service notification to the plurality of terminals 10using the MBMS common control channel and the corresponding terminalssimultaneously inform the UTRAN that they want to receive thecorresponding MBMS service through the uplink common channel both theinterference and load on the uplink increases.

[0044] Because the interference and load increases, an undesirably longperiod of time may be required for the terminals 10 to send responsemessages. Therefore, some terminals may fail to transmit the responsemessage by the time the UTRAN 20 should set up the MBMS radio bearer.

[0045] Once the UTRAN 20 receives a number of response messages from theterminals 10 that is above the threshold for setting up-the MBMSpoint-to-multipoint radio bearer, the UTRAN no longer needs to receiveadditional response messages because all requirements for selecting theradio bearer have been met. However, in the conventional art, even ifthe UTRAN 20 has already received above a threshold number of responsemessages, the UTRAN continues to receive response messages until theMBMS radio bearer is set. Therefore, uplink radio resources areundesirably wasted.

[0046] The RRC connection procedure is generally divided into threesteps; the terminal 10 transmits an kRC connection request message tothe UTRAN 20, the UTRAN transmits an RRC connection setup message to theterminal, and the terminal transmits an RRC connection setup completemessage to the UTRAN. These steps are illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0047]FIG. 3 illustrates the conventional art procedure when the UTRAN20 accepts the RRC connection request of the terminal 10. When an idlestate terminal 10 wishes to establish an RRC connection, the terminalfirst transmits an RRC connection request message to the UTRAN 20. TheRRC connection request message may include an RRC establishment causeand an initial terminal identifier. The initial terminal identifier, orUE identity, is an identifier that is unique to a particular terminal 10and allows that terminal to be identified despite its location anywherein the world.

[0048] In response to the RRC connection request, the UTRAN 20 transmitsan RRC connection setup message to the terminal 10. The RRC connectionsetup message may include an RNTI (Radio Network Temporary Identity) andradio bearer setup information transmitted together with an initial UEidentity. The RNTI is a terminal identifier allocated to allow the UTRAN20 to identify connected state terminals 10. The RNTI is used only whenan RRC connection exists and is used only within the UTRAN 20.

[0049] In response to the RRC connection setup message, the terminal 10establishes an RRC connection with the UTRAN 20 and transmits an RRCconnection setup complete message to the UTRAN 20. After the RRCconnection has been established, the terminal 10 uses the RNTI insteadof the initial UE identity when communicating with the UTRAN 20.

[0050] Because the initial UE identity is a unique identifier, frequentuse may increase the chances of undesirable exposure. Therefore, theinitial UE identity is used briefly only during the initial RRCconnection procedure and the RNTI is used thereafter for securityreasons.

[0051] However, the UTRAN 20 may also reject the RRC connection requestfor a variety of reasons, for example insufficient radio resources. FIG.4 illustrates the conventional art procedure when the UTRAN 20 rejectsthe RRC connection request of the terminal 10.

[0052] Upon receiving an RRC connection request from the terminal 10,the UTRAN 20 transmits an RRC connection reject message if it isnecessary to reject the RRC connection. An initial UE identity andrejection cause are included in the RRC connection reject message toinform the terminal 10 why the RRC connection was rejected. Uponreceiving the RRC connection reject message, the terminal 10 returns toan idle state.

[0053]FIG. 5 illustrates a conventional art method 100 for a terminal 10requesting an RRC connection. The method 100 includes transmitting anRRC connection request message (S110) and operating a timer (S120),determining whether an RRC connection setup message (S130) or an RRCconnection reject message (S144) is received before the timer expires(S150), and repeating the process unless an RRC connection setup messageor an RRC connection reject message was received or it is determinedthat a threshold for sending RRC connection requests has been reached(S160).

[0054] Upon receiving an RRC connection request message from theterminal 10, the UTRAN 20 grants the RRC connection request if radioresources are sufficient and transmits an RRC connection setup messageto the terminal. Otherwise the UTRAN rejects the RRC connection requestand transmits an RRC connection reject message to the terminal 10.

[0055] Upon determining that an RRC connection setup message wasreceived in step S130, the initial UE identity included in the RRCconnection setup message is compared to the terminal's own identity todetermine whether the message was intended for that terminal 10. If theinitial UE identity included in the RRC connection setup message isdifferent than that of the terminal 10, the terminal discards thereceived message and determines whether an RRC connection reject messagewas received in step S144. If the initial UE identity included in theRRC connection setup message matches that of the terminal 10, theterminal establishes an RRC connection with the UTRAN 20 and transitionsto the RRC connected state.

[0056] Upon establishing an RRC connection with the UTRAN 20, the RNTIallocated by the UTRAN 20 is stored and an RRC connection setup completemessage is transmitted to the UTRAN 20 in step S142. The RRC connectionsetup complete message includes capability information of the terminal10. Transmission of additional RRC connection request messages isterminated in step S170.

[0057] Upon determining that an RRC connection reject message wasreceived in step S144, the initial UE identity included in the RRCconnection reject message is compared to the terminal's own identity todetermine whether the message was intended for that terminal 10. If theinitial UE identity included in the RRC connection reject message isdifferent than that of the terminal 10, the terminal discards thereceived message and the state of the timer is checked in step S150. Ifthe initial UE identity included in the RRC connection reject messagematches that of the terminal 10, the terminal transitions to the idlestate and terminates the RRC connection attempt in step S170.

[0058] Upon determining that the timer has not expired in step S150, theterminal 10 continues to wait for reception of an RRC connection setupmessage or an RRC connection reject message. Upon determining that thetimer has expired in step S150, it is determined in step S160 if athreshold limit for sending RRC connection request messages has beenreached.

[0059] If the threshold limit for sending RRC connection requestmessages has been reached, the terminal 10 terminates the RRC connectionattempt in step S170. If the threshold limit for sending RRC connectionrequest messages has not been reached, another RRC connection attempt isinitiated in step S110 and the process is repeated.

[0060] In the conventional art, when the UTRAN 20 needs to send RRCconnection reject messages to a plurality of terminals that requestedRRC connection, radio resources are wasted because transmitting RRCconnection reject messages requires an undesirably long time. A primeexample of such wasted radio resources occurs when providing a multicastservice.

[0061] The UTRAN 20 utilizes a multicast service notification procedureto perform a counting operation to determine the total number ofterminals 10 wishing to receive a particular multicast service within aparticular cell. The counting operation is used to determine whether theradio bearer to provide the particular multicast service should bepoint-to-multipoint or point-to-point. If the number of terminalsexisting in the corresponding cell is less than a threshold value, apoint-to-point radio bearer is set. If the number of terminals isgreater than or equal to the threshold, a point-to-multipoint radiobearer is set.

[0062] When a point-to-point radio bearer is set for a particularservice, the terminals 10 wishing to receive the service are all in RRCconnected state. However, when a point-to-multipoint radio bearer is setfor a particular service, all terminals 10 wishing to receive theservice need not be in RRC connected state because RRC idle stateterminals are also able to receive the multicast service through thepoint-to-multipoint radio bearer.

[0063] For a multicast service, selecting the radio bearer type usingthe counting operation is essential for effectively allocating radioresources. Therefore, the selecting operation is performed beforestarting a multicast service or periodically during the multicastservice.

[0064] In order to count the number of terminals 10 at the UTRAN 20,those terminals in idle state transmit an RRC connection request messageto the UTRAN immediately upon receiving a service notification. When theUTRAN 20 receives an RRC connection request message after servicenotification, the number of terminals 10 wishing to receive a particularmulticast service within a cell is counted to determine the type ofradio bearer. Based on the radio resource conditions, RRC connectionsetup messages are transmitted to a certain number of terminals 10 andRRC connection reject messages are transmitted to the remainingterminals so that some terminals can receive the corresponding servicein RRC idle state.

[0065] Because multicast service is a service aimed at a large number ofterminals 10, the UTRAN 20 receives RRC connection request messages froma large number of terminals almost simultaneously after servicenotification. The UTRAN 20 typically rejects a majority of these RRCconnection requests. Since each RRC connection reject message informsonly one terminal 10 that its RRC connection request has been rejected,an extended period of time and large amount of radio resources areexpended to transmit RRC connection reject messages to all correspondingterminals, particularly in a multicast service in which a very largenumber of terminals are handled.

[0066] Additionally, if a terminal 10 that transmitted an RRC connectionrequest message does not receive an RRC connection setup message or anRRC connection reject message within a certain period of time, theterminal transmits the RRC connection request message again. There-transmission of RRC connection request messages wastes further radioresources since the UTRAN must receive each re-transmitted message.

[0067] Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus thatfacilitates informing a plurality of terminals that their RRC connectionrequest was rejected without having to send an RRC connection rejectmessage to each terminal such that radio resources are conserved. Thepresent invention addresses this and other needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0068] The present invention is directed to a to a method and apparatusfor facilitating connection between a terminal and a network in a UMTS(Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) by which a single groupreject message is utilized by the network to inform a plurality ofterminals that their connection request was rejected.

[0069] Additional features and advantages of the invention will be setforth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparentfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realizedand attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the writtendescription and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

[0070] To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, thepresent invention is embodied in a mobile communication system anddevice that facilitates RRC connection between a terminal and UTRAN in aUMTS in a way that conserves radio resources. Specifically, a method andapparatus is provided that allows the UTRAN to inform a plurality ofterminals that that their RRC connection request was rejected via asingle message transmitted to a plurality of terminals. Although theinvention is described herein with regard to a UMTS developed by the3GPP, it is contemplated that the methods and apparatus of the presentinvention may be applied whenever it is desired to inform a plurality ofterminals in a mobile communication system that their request forconnection has been rejected.

[0071] In one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided fora terminal in radio communication with a network. The method includesinitiating a connection process associated with a user service providedby a network by transmitting a connection request to the network,receiving a group reject message including a list identifying terminalswhose connection request was rejected, and comparing a terminal identitywith terminal identities in the list of the group reject message todetermine if the group reject message is discarded or the connectionprocess is abandoned.

[0072] The presence of the terminal identity in the list indicates thatthe connection request was rejected. The absence of the terminalidentity on the list indicates that the connection request has not yetbeen rejected. Therefore, if the terminal identity is not in the list,the group reject message is discarded and the terminal continues to waitfor another group reject message or a connection setup messageindicating that the connection request was granted. If the terminalidentity is on the list, the terminal abandons the connection process.

[0073] Preferably the connection requests are RRC connection requestsand the communication connection sought is an RRC connection associatedwith an MBMS multicast service. The list may contain initial internal UEidentities of the terminals subscribing to the user service whose RRCconnection request is rejected and the terminal compares an internalinitial UE identity to those in the list to determine if the message isintended for that particular terminal. It is contemplated that groupreject message may include a rejection cause indicating why theconnection request was rejected.

[0074] In another aspect of the present invention, a method is providedfor a terminal in radio communication with a network. The methodincludes initiating a connection process associated with a user serviceprovided by a network by transmitting a connection request to thenetwork, receiving a connection response message including eitherconnection setup information or group reject information, and evaluatingthe connection response message to determine if a network connection isestablished, the connection response message is discarded, or theconnection process is abandoned.

[0075] If the connection response message contains connection setupinformation, the terminal establishes a connection with the networkutilizing the connection setup information. Once the connection iscomplete, the terminal transmits a message to the network indicatingconnection complete status.

[0076] If the connection response message contains group rejectinformation, the terminal determines if the group reject information isintended for that particular terminal based on a list in the groupreject information identifying terminals whose connection request wasrejected. If the list includes that particular terminal's identity, theterminal abandons the connection process since the connection requestwas rejected. If the list does not include that particular terminal'sidentity, the connection response message is discarded and the terminalcontinues to wait for another connection response message.

[0077] Preferably the connection requests are RRC connection requestsand the communication connection sought is an RRC connection associatedwith an MBMS multicast service. The connection reject information mayinclude a list containing initial internal UE identities of theterminals subscribing to the user service whose RRC connection requestis rejected and the terminal compares an internal initial UE identity tothose in the list to determine if the message is intended for thatparticular terminal. It is contemplated that the group reject messagemay include a rejection cause indicating why the connection request wasrejected.

[0078] In another aspect of the present invention, a method is providedfor a network in radio communication with a plurality of terminals. Themethod includes receiving connection requests from each of the pluralityof terminals, determining which connection requests are granted andwhich connection requests are rejected, generating a list identifyingthose terminals that should not set up the communication connection, andtransmitting a single group reject message including the list to theplurality of terminals.

[0079] Preferably the connection requests are RRC connection requestsseeking an RRC connection associated with an MBMS multicast service andthe determination of which terminals should set up an RRC connection ispreferably performed in accordance with available radio resources and/orterminal priority. The list may contain initial internal UE identitiesof the terminals whose RRC connection request is rejected.

[0080] It is contemplated that group reject message may include arejection cause indicating why the connection request was rejected. Itis further contemplated that the group reject message may be transmittedby the network within a particular time period after the firstconnection request is received in order to prevent those terminals whoseconnection request is rejected from sending additional connectionrequests. Moreover, it is contemplated that the network may transmit aconnection response message including connection setup information to atleast one terminal whose connection request is granted.

[0081] In another aspect of the present invention, a method is providedfor a terminal in radio communication with a network. The methodincludes transmitting a connection request to the network to request aconnection setup message, determining if either a connection setupmessage or a group reject message intended for that particular terminalis received within a certain period of time, and either re-transmittingthe connection request message or entering a connected state or an idlestate.

[0082] If neither a connection setup message nor a group reject messageis received within a predetermined period of time, the connectionrequest is re-transmitted. If a connection setup message was receivedwithin the predetermined period of time, the terminal establishes anetwork connection and enters the connected state. If a group rejectmessage intended for the terminal was received within the predeterminedperiod of time, the terminal enters an idle state and transmits noadditional connection requests.

[0083] Preferably the connection request is an RRC connection request,the communication connection sought is an RRC connection associated withan MBMS multicast service, and the connected state is an RRC connectionbetween the terminal and network. The group reject message is preferablyan RRC group reject message and the connection setup message and groupreject message are preferably received on the same channel.

[0084] It is contemplated that the group reject message may containinitial internal UE identities of the terminals subscribing to the userservice whose RRC connection request is rejected. The terminal comparesan internal initial UE identity to those in the list to determine if themessage is intended for that particular terminal.

[0085] The presence of the terminal identity in the list indicates thatthe group reject message is intended for that particular terminal. Theabsence of the terminal identity in the list indicates that the groupreject message is not intended for that particular terminal. Therefore,if the terminal identity is not in the list, the group reject message isdiscarded and the terminal continues to wait for another group rejectmessage indicating that the connection request was rejected or aconnection setup message indicating that the connection request wasgranted. If the terminal identity is in the list, the terminal entersthe idle state and abandons the connection process.

[0086] In another aspect of the present invention, a method is providedfor a network in radio communication with a plurality of terminals. Themethod includes receiving connection requests from each of the pluralityof terminals, transmitting connection setup messages only to thoseterminals determined to set up a communication connection, andtransmitting to all the terminals a connection reject message containingreject information for those terminals that should not set up thecommunication connection, with the connection setup messages and theconnection reject message transmitted over the same channel.

[0087] Preferably the connection requests are RRC connection requestsseeking an RRC connection between a terminal and the network associatedwith an MBMS multicast service. The connection requests are preferablytransmitted over an MBMS control channel.

[0088] The connection setup messages are preferably RRC connection setupmessages. The connection reject message is preferably an RRC groupreject message containing a list of initial internal UE identities ofthe terminals whose RRC connection request is rejected. The connectionsetup messages and reject message are preferably transmitted over acommon control channel.

[0089] In another aspect of the present invention, a terminal isprovided for radio communication with a network. The terminal includes atransmitter, a display, a memory unit, a receiver and a processing unit.

[0090] The transmitter initiates a network connection process associatedwith a user service by transmitting a connection request to the network.The display conveys information to a user. The memory unit storesinformation related to the network connection and user service. Thereceiver receives connection response messages from the networkcontaining connection setup information and connection rejectinformation. The processing unit performs the methods of the presentinvention to evaluate the contents of connection response messages inorder to either establish a network connection, discard the connectionresponse message if it is not intended for the particular terminal, orabandon the network connection process if the connection responseindicates that the connection request was rejected.

[0091] In another aspect of the present invention, a network is providedfor radio communication with a plurality of terminals. The terminalincludes a receiver, a transmitter, a storage unit, and a processingunit.

[0092] The receiver receives connection requests seeking a networkconnection associated with a user service from the plurality ofterminals. The transmitter transmits connection response messagescontaining connection setup information or connection reject informationto the plurality of terminals. The storage unit stores informationrelated to the network connection and user service. The processing unitperforms the methods of the present invention to determine which of theplurality of terminals should setup a communication connection, generatea list identifying the terminals for which a connection request is notgranted, send a connection response message containing connection setupinformation to those terminals determined to receive a communicationconnection, and send a group reject connection response messagecontaining the list to the plurality of terminals.

[0093] In another aspect of the present invention, a method of radiocommunication between a plurality of terminals and a network isprovided. The method includes receiving connection requests from theplurality of terminals at the network, determining which terminalsshould set up a communication connection, generating a list to identifythose terminals that should not set up the communication connection,transmitting a single group reject message including the list to theplurality of terminals, and receiving the group reject message at eachof the plurality of terminals, with those terminals that are identifiedby the list entering an idle state in which no more connection requestsare transmitted to the network.

[0094] Preferably the connection requests are RRC connection requestsand the communication connection sought by the terminals is an RRCconnection associated with an MBMS multicast service. The determinationof which terminals should set up an RRC connection is preferablyperformed in accordance with available radio resources and/or terminalpriority. The list may contain initial internal UE identities of theterminals whose connection request is rejected and the terminals comparetheir internal initial UE identity to those in the list to determine ifthey are to enter the idle state.

[0095] It is contemplated that group reject message may include arejection cause to inform the terminals why their connection request wasrejected. It is further contemplated that the group reject message maybe transmitted by the network within a particular time period after thefirst connection request is received in order to prevent those terminalswhose connection request is rejected from sending additional connectionrequests.

[0096] Additional advantages, objects, and features of the inventionwill be set forth in part in the description which follows and in partwill become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realizedand attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

[0097] It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description of the presentinvention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to providefurther explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0098] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide afurther understanding of the invention and are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of theinvention and together with the description serve to explain theprinciples of the invention. Features, elements, and aspects of theinvention that are referenced by the same numerals in different figuresrepresent the same, equivalent, or similar features, elements, oraspects in accordance with one or more embodiments.

[0099]FIG. 1 illustrates a network structure of a general 3GPP UMTSsystem.

[0100]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary basic structure of a general UMTSnetwork.

[0101]FIG. 3 illustrates the conventional art procedure when the UTRANaccepts the RRC connection request of a terminal.

[0102]FIG. 4 illustrates the conventional art procedure when the UTRANrejects the RRC connection request of a terminal.

[0103]FIG. 5 illustrates a conventional art method for processing RRCconnection setup messages and RRC connection reject messages.

[0104]FIG. 6 illustrates the procedure when the UTRAN accepts the RRCconnection request of a terminal and rejects the RRC connection requestsof a plurality of terminals according to the methods of the presentinvention.

[0105]FIG. 7 illustrates a method for processing RRC connection setupmessages and RRC group reject messages according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

[0106]FIG. 8 illustrates a method for transmitting an RRC connectionsetup message and an RRC group reject message according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

[0107]FIG. 9 illustrates a terminal for processing RRC connection setupmessages and RRC group reject messages according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

[0108]FIG. 10 illustrates a network for transmitting RRC connectionsetup messages and RRC group reject messages according to one embodimentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0109] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus forfacilitating connection between a terminal and a network in a UMTS(Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) by which a single groupreject message is utilized by the network to inform a plurality ofterminals that their connection request was rejected. Although thepresent invention is illustrated with respect to a mobile communicationsystem such as a UMTS developed by the 3GPP, and specifically an RRCconnection associated with an MBMS user service, it is contemplated thatthe methods and apparatus described herein may also be applied to acommunication system operating under similar and/or different standardswhen it is desired to inform a plurality of terminals that theirconnection request was rejected without having to send a connectionreject message to each terminal such that radio resources are conserved.

[0110] The present invention allows a UTRAN 520 to send the same RRCconnection reject message to a plurality of terminals 400 having thesame RRC connection reject cause by transmitting a single RRC groupreject message containing an initial UE identity list with a pluralityof initial UE identities and, optionally, including the RRC connectionreject cause. A terminal 400 receiving the RRC group reject messagefirst checks to see if its initial UE identity matches any of those inthe initial UE identity list. If there is a match, the terminal 400stops transmitting an RRC connection request and enters an idle state.If there is no match, the terminal 400 continues to wait for an RRCconnection setup message or an RRC connection reject message from theUTRAN 520.

[0111]FIG. 6 illustrates the procedure for transmitting an RRC groupreject message utilizing the methods and apparatus of the presentinvention. Assuming that the UTRAN 520 receives the same RRC connectionrequest message from each of the terminals 400 illustrated (UE1 throughUE4), the UTRAN then determines whether to accept or reject eachconnection request. The condition of radio resources and terminalpriority may be considered, among other factors, in making thisdetermination. FIG. 6 illustrates an example where the request from UE 1is accepted, while the requests from UE2 through UE4 are rejected.

[0112] The UTRAN 520 transmits an RRC connection setup messagecontaining an initial UE identity 1, an RNTI 1, and radio bearerinformation to UE 1, which has its RRC connection request accepted.Because each terminal 400 is allocated a different RNTI and radio bearerinformation, an RRC connection setup message must be transmitted to eachterminal for which RRC connection is allowed. Therefore, if there aremore terminals 400 whose connection request is granted, the UTRAN 520must transmit additional connection setup messages.

[0113] Simultaneous with the transmission of the RRC connection setupmessage to UE 1, the UTRAN 520 also transmits an RRC group rejectmessage for UE 2 through UE 4, terminals 400 for which RRC connectionhas been rejected. An initial UE identity list for the terminals 400 isincluded in the RRC group reject message to allow the terminals todetermine if the message is intended for that particular terminal.

[0114] Since the UTRAN 520 must reject the RRC connection requests froma plurality of terminals 400, it is preferable that the RRC group rejectmessage be transmitted to only those terminals having the same reasonfor rejection, or rejection cause. Furthermore, the UTRAN 520 transmitsthe RRC group reject message after gathering the requests received froma plurality of terminals 400 over a relatively long period of time,terminals that transmitted their connection requests much earlier thanother terminals may have already re-transmitted connection requestsbecause they had not received any response from the UTRAN. Thisunnecessary re-transmission of requests wastes radio resources. Tofurther conserve radio resources, the UTRAN 520 preferably transmits theRRC group reject message to those terminals 400 that transmitted theirrequests within a relatively short time period of time. Therefore, theUTRAN 520 generates an RRC group reject message for those terminals thathave the same rejection cause and that requested RRC connectionsimultaneously or within a certain time period.

[0115] In FIG. 6, UE 2 through UE 4 receive the RRC group reject messageand first check the initial UE identity list to see if their identity isincluded on the list. If a terminal 400 finds its identity on the list,the terminal stops its RRC connection request procedure and enters anidle state. If a terminal 400 does not find its identity on the list,the terminal discards the received RRC group reject message andcontinues to wait for an RRC connection setup message or another RRCgroup reject message.

[0116]FIG. 7 illustrates a method 200 for processing RRC connectionsetup messages and an RRC group reject message in a terminal 400according to one embodiment of the present invention. The method 200includes initiating a network connection process by transmitting an RRCconnection request message (S210) and then reading a common controlchannel (S225) until either an RRC connection setup message is received(S230) or an RRC group reject message is received (S244). It iscontemplated that the method 200 may incorporate methods in the relatedart, such as timers and re-transmission thresholds, to re-transmit theRRC connection request message if an RRC connection setup message or RRCgroup reject message is not received.

[0117] If an RRC connection setup message was received in step S230, aconnection to the network is established in step S242 and an RRCconnection setup complete message is transmitted to the network. Furtherre-transmission of RRC connection request messages is ceased in stepS270.

[0118] If an RRC connection setup message is not received, it isdetermined in step S244 if an RRC group reject message was received. Ifan RRC group reject message was not received, the terminal 400 continuesto wait for an RRC connection setup message or RRC group reject messageby again reading the common control channel in step S225. If an RRCgroup reject message was received, a list of UE identities contained inthe RRC group reject message is checked. The UE identities indicate theterminals 400 whose connection requests were rejected.

[0119] If step S265, an internal terminal identifier is compared to thelist of UE identifiers in the RRC group reject message. If theparticular terminal's internal terminal identifier is found in the list,the terminal 400 enters an idle state in step S267 and the networkconnection process is abandoned, with further retransmission of RRCconnection request messages ceased in step S270. If the particularterminal's internal terminal identifier is not found in the list, theRRC group reject message is discarded and the terminal 400 continues towait for an RRC connection setup message or RRC group reject message byagain reading the common control channel in step S225.

[0120] The RRC connection request may be associated with a user service,such as MDMS multipoint service, and the RRC connection setup messagesand RRC group reject message may be directed to terminals 400subscribing to the service. Preferably, the RRC connection setupmessages and RRC group reject message are received on the same commoncontrol channel and the RRC connection request messages are transmittedon an MBMS control channel.

[0121]FIG. 8 illustrates a method 300 for processing RRC connectionrequest messages and generating RRC connection setup messages and an RRCgroup reject message in a network according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. The method 300 includes receiving an RRC connectionrequest message (S310) and then determining whether or not to grant theRRC connection request (S315).

[0122] The determination in step S315 of whether or not to grant the RRCconnection request may be in accordance with available radio resourcesand/or terminal priority. If the RRC connection request is granted, anRRC connection setup message is transmitted in step S330 to the terminal400 that transmitted the RRC connection request. If the RRC connectionrequest is rejected, a terminal identifier corresponding to the terminal400 that transmitted the RRC connection request is added, in step S317,to a list of terminal identifiers corresponding to terminals whose RRCconnection request was rejected.

[0123] In a preferred embodiment, a threshold is utilized in step S319to determine when to transmit an RRC group reject message. It iscontemplated that the threshold is related to a predetermined timeperiod such that the RRC group reject message is transmitted within thepredetermined period of time after the first RRC connection request isreceived in order to prevent terminals 400 from retransmitting an RRCconnection request before they are informed that their previous RRCconnection request was rejected.

[0124] An RRC group reject message containing the list of terminalidentifiers is transmitted in step S344. It is contemplated that the RRCgroup reject message may include a rejection cause indicating why theconnection request was rejected. Preferably the list of terminalidentifiers in the RRC group reject message corresponds to terminals 400having the same rejection cause.

[0125] RRC connection setup messages are transmitted only to thoseterminals 400 determined to set up a communication connection, while theRRC group reject message is transmitted to all terminals. Preferably,the RRC connection setup messages and the RRC group reject message aretransmitted over the same common control channel.

[0126] It should be noted that the order of the steps of the methodsillustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 are only exemplary and may be changedwithout departing from the intent of the present invention. Furthermorethe methods illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 may performed by theappropriate software and/or hardware in the UTRAN 520 and in eachterminal 400.

[0127]FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a terminal 400 according tothe preferred embodiment of the present invention. The terminal 400comprises a processor or digital signal processor 412, RF module 435,power management module 405, antenna 440, battery 455, display 415,keypad 420, memory 430, SIM card 425 (which may be optional), speaker445 and microphone 450.

[0128] A user enters instructional information, such as a telephonenumber, for example, by pushing the buttons of a keypad 420 or by voiceactivation using the microphone 450. The processor 412 receives andprocesses the instructional information to perform the appropriatefunction, such as to dial the telephone number. Operational data may beretrieved from the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card 425 or thememory module 430 to perform the function. Furthermore, the processor412 may display the instructional and operational information on thedisplay 415 for the user's reference and convenience. Moreover, theprocessor 412 is adapted to perform the method 200 illustrated in FIG.7.

[0129] The processor 412 issues instructional information to the RFmodule 435, to initiate communication, for example, transmit radiosignals comprising voice communication data or transmit an RRCconnection request message as described herein. The RF module 435comprises a receiver and a transmitter to receive and transmit radiosignals. An antenna 440 facilitates the transmission and reception ofradio signals. Upon receiving radio signals such as an RRC connectionsetup message or RRC group reject message from the network as describedherein, the RF module 435 may forward and convert the signals tobaseband frequency for processing by the processor 412. The processedsignals may also be transformed into audible or readable informationoutputted via the speaker 445, for example if the radio signals are anincoming phone call.

[0130]FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a UTRAN 520 according tothe preferred embodiment of the present invention. The UTRAN 520includes one or more radio network sub-systems (RNS) 525. Each RNS 525includes a radio network controller (RNC) 523 and a plurality of Node-Bs(base stations) 521 managed by the RNC. The RNC 523 handles theassignment and management of radio resources and operates as an accesspoint with respect to the core network 30. Furthermore, the RNC 523 isadapted to perform the method 300 illustrated in FIG. 8.

[0131] The Node-Bs 521 receive information sent by the physical layer ofthe terminal 400 through an uplink, and transmit data to the terminalthrough a downlink. The Node-Bs 521 operate as access points, or as atransmitter and receiver, of the UTRAN 520 for the terminal 400.

[0132] In the related art, when the UTRAN 20 rejects the RRC connectionrequests transmitted from certain terminals 10, a reject message must betransmitted to each terminal whose RRC connection request is rejected.An undesirably long time is required to transmit multiple rejectmessages, which wastes downlink radio resources. Uplink radio resourcemay be wasted as well because some terminals 10 may re-transmit theirRRC connection requests if they do not receive any response from theUTRAN 20 within an allowed time.

[0133] The present invention facilitates transmitting a single RRC groupreject. message for rejecting the RRC connection requests of a pluralityof terminals 400, thereby minimizing waste of radio resources andproviding a quick response to those terminals that transmitted arequest. It can be understood that the present invention would beespecially advantageous when providing a multicast service to a largenumber of terminals 400.

[0134] It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the preferredembodiments of the present invention can be readily implemented using,for example, the processor 412 or other data or digital processingdevice, either alone or in combination with external support logic.

[0135] Although the present invention is described in the context ofmobile communication, the present invention may also be used in anywireless communication systems using mobile devices, such as PDAs andlaptop computers equipped with wireless communication capabilities.Moreover, the use of certain terms to describe the present inventionshould not limit the scope of the present invention to certain type ofwireless communication system, such as UMTS. The present invention isalso applicable to other wireless communication systems using differentair interfaces and/or physical layers, for example, TDMA, CDMA, FDMA,WCDMA, etc.

[0136] The preferred embodiments may be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof. The term “article of manufacture” as used hereinrefers to code or logic implemented in hardware logic (e.g., anintegrated circuit chip, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.) or a computerreadable medium (e.g., magnetic storage medium (e.g., hard disk drives,floppy disks, tape, etc.), optical storage (CD-ROMs, optical disks,etc.), volatile and non-volatile memory devices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs,PROMs, RAMs, DRAMs, SRAMs, firmware, programmable logic, etc.). Code inthe computer readable medium is accessed and executed by a processor.The code in which preferred embodiments are implemented may further beaccessible through a transmission media or from a file server over anetwork. In such cases, the article of manufacture in which the code isimplemented may comprise a transmission media, such as a networktransmission line, wireless transmission media, signals propagatingthrough space, radio waves, infrared signals, etc. Of course, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made tothis configuration without departing from the scope of the presentinvention, and that the article of manufacture may comprise anyinformation bearing medium known in the art.

[0137] The logic implementation shown in the figures described specificoperations as occurring in a particular order. In alternativeimplementations, certain of the logic operations may be performed in adifferent order, modified or removed and still implement preferredembodiments of the present invention. Moreover, steps may be added tothe above described logic and still conform to implementations of theinvention.

[0138] The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary andare not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The presentteaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Thedescription of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, andnot to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications,and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In theclaims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structuredescribed herein as performing the recited function and not onlystructural equivalents but also equivalent structures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of communicating with a network in awireless communication system, the method comprising the steps of:initiating a network connection process associated with a user serviceby transmitting a connection request message to the network; receiving aconnection response message from the network, the connection responsemessage comprising connection reject information and at least oneterminal identifier; comparing an internal terminal identifier with theat least one terminal identifier in the connection response message; andone of discarding the connection response message to wait for anotherconnection response message and abandoning the network connectionprocess, wherein the connection response message is discarded if theinternal terminal identifier does not match the at least one terminalidentifier in the connection response message and the network connectionprocess is abandoned if the internal terminal identifier matches the atleast one terminal identifier in the connection response message.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the user service comprises an MBMS service.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection response message isdirected to terminals subscribing to the user service.
 4. A method ofcommunicating with a network in a wireless communication system, themethod comprising the steps of: initiating a network connection processassociated with a user service by transmitting a connection requestmessage to the network; receiving a connection response message from thenetwork, the connection response message comprising one of connectionsetup information and group reject information, the group rejectinformation comprising at least one terminal identifier; and one ofestablishing a network connection, discarding the connection responsemessage to wait for another connection response message and abandoningthe network connection process, wherein a network connection isestablished if the connection response message comprises connectionsetup information, the connection response message is discarded if themessage contains group reject information without a terminal identifiermatching an internal terminal identifier, and the network connectionprocess is abandoned if the connection response message contains groupreject information with a terminal identifier matching an internalterminal identifier.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the user servicecomprises an MBMS service.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein theconnection response message is directed to terminals subscribing to theuser service.
 7. A method of communicating with a plurality of terminalsin a wireless communication system, the method comprising the steps of:receiving a connection request message from each of the plurality ofterminals, the connection request message representing a connectionrequest associated with a user service and requesting a connectionresponse message; determining which connection requests are granted andwhich connection requests are rejected; and transmitting a firstconnection response message to the plurality of terminals, the firstconnection response message comprising connection reject information andat least one terminal identifier, the at least one terminal identifierindicating a corresponding terminal whose connection request isrejected.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first connectionresponse message comprising connection reject information is transmittedwithin a predetermined period of time after the first connection requestmessage is received.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the firstconnection response message further comprises a rejection cause forrejecting the connection request.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein therejection cause is the same for all terminals corresponding to the atleast one terminal identifier in the first connection response message.11. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting a secondconnection response message comprising connection setup information toat least one terminal whose connection request is granted.
 12. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the user service comprises an MBMS service.13. The method of claim 7, wherein the determination of which connectionrequests are granted and which connection requests are rejected is inaccordance with at least one of available radio resources and terminalpriority.
 14. A method of communicating with a network in a wirelesscommunication system, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting aconnection request message to request a first response message from thenetwork; determining if one of the first response message and a secondresponse was received during a certain period of time, the firstresponse message intended for a specific terminal and the secondresponse message intended for a plurality of terminals; and one ofre-transmitting the connection request message, entering a connectedstate, and entering an idle state, wherein the connection requestmessage is re-transmitted if neither the first response message nor thesecond response message was received, the connected state is entered ifthe first response message was received, and the idle state is enteredif the second response message was received.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein the connection request message is an RRC connection requestmessage.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first response messageis an RRC connection setup message.
 17. The method of claim 14, whereinthe second response message is an RRC group reject message.
 18. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the second response message comprises atleast one UE identity and further comprising the steps of: comparing aninternal UE identity to the at least one UE identity in the secondresponse message; and one of discarding the second response message andentering the idle state, wherein the second response message isdiscarded if the internal UE identity does not match the at least one UEidentity and the idle state is entered if the internal UE identitymatches the at least one UE identity.
 19. The method of claim 14,wherein the connected state comprises an RRC connection between aterminal and the network.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein theconnection request message is associated with a multicast service. 21.The method of claim 14, wherein the first response message and secondresponse message are received on the same channel.
 22. A method ofcommunicating with a plurality of terminals in a wireless communicationsystem, the method comprising the steps of: receiving at least oneconnection request message on a first channel from each of a pluralityof terminals subscribing to a service, the connection request associatedwith the service; transmitting a first response message on a secondchannel to at least one of the plurality of terminals, wherein the firstresponse message contains connection setup information associated withthe service; and transmitting a second response message on the secondchannel to the plurality of terminals, wherein the second responsemessage contains connection reject information associated with at leastone of the plurality of terminals.
 23. The method of claim 22, whereinthe service comprises a point to multipoint service.
 24. The method ofclaim 22, wherein the second response message comprises at least oneterminal identifier, the at least one terminal identifier indicating aterminal whose connection request is rejected.
 25. The method of claim22, wherein the second channel is a common control channel.
 26. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the first channel is an MBMS controlchannel.
 27. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one connectionrequest message is an RRC connection request message.
 28. The method ofclaim 22, wherein the first response message is an RRC connection setupmessage.
 29. The method of claim 22, wherein the second response messageis an RRC group reject message.
 30. The method of claim 22, wherein theconnection requested is an RRC connection between a terminal and thenetwork.
 31. A terminal for communicating with a network in a mobilecommunication system, the terminal comprising: a transmitter adapted toinitiate a network connection process associated with a user service bytransmitting a connection request message to the network; a displayadapted to convey information to a user; a memory unit adapted to storeinformation; a receiver adapted to receive a connection response messagefrom the network, the connection response message comprising one ofconnection setup information and connection reject information; and aprocessing unit adapted to evaluate the contents of the connectionresponse message and one of establish a network connection, discard theconnection response message and abandon the network connection process,wherein a network connection is established if the connection responsemessage comprises connection setup information, the connection responsemessage is discarded if the message contains reject information notintended for the terminal, and the network connection process isabandoned if the connection response message contains reject informationintended for the terminal.
 32. The terminal of claim 31, wherein theconnection request message is an RRC connection request message.
 33. Theterminal of claim 31, wherein the connection response message is an RRCconnection setup message and the processing unit transmits a connectionsetup complete message to the network.
 34. The terminal of claim 31,wherein the connection response message comprises connection rejectinformation and at least one terminal identifier and the processing unitis further adapted to: compare an internal terminal identifier with theat least one terminal identifier in the connection response message; andone of discard the connection response message and abandon the networkconnection process, wherein the connection response message is discardedif the internal terminal identifier does not match the at least oneterminal identifier in the connection response message and the networkconnection process is abandoned if the internal terminal identifiermatches the at least one terminal identifier in the connection responsemessage.
 35. The terminal of claim 31, wherein the connection responsemessage is an RRC group reject message.
 36. The terminal of claim 31,wherein the connection response message comprises a rejection causeindicating why the connection request is rejected.
 37. The terminal ofclaim 31, wherein the processing unit is further adapted to re-transmitthe connection request message if no connection response message isreceived within a certain period of time after initiating the networkconnection process.
 38. The terminal of claim 31, wherein the userservice is a multicast service.
 39. A network for radio communicationwith a plurality of terminals in a mobile communication system, thenetwork comprising: a receiver adapted to receive connection requestmessages from a plurality of terminals; a transmitter adapted totransmit a connection response message to each of the plurality ofterminals; a storage unit adapted to store information; and a controlleradapted to determine which of the first plurality of terminals shouldsetup a communication connection, generate a list identifying at leastone terminal for which a connection request is not granted, send aconnection response message comprising connection setup information toat least one terminal determined to receive a communication connection,and send a single group reject message comprising connection rejectinformation and the list to the plurality of terminals.
 40. The networkof claim 39, wherein the connection request messages comprise RRCconnection requests.
 41. The network of claim 39, wherein the controlleris further adapted to determine which of the plurality of terminalsshould setup a communication connection in accordance with at least oneof available radio resources and terminal priority.
 42. The network ofclaim 39, wherein the communication connection comprises an RRCconnection between a terminal and the network.
 43. The network of claim39, wherein the list comprises at least one initial UE identity.
 44. Thenetwork of claim 39, wherein the controller is further adapted togenerate the list within a particular time period after receiving afirst connection request message.
 45. The network of claim 39, whereincontroller is adapted to include a rejection cause in the single groupreject message, the rejection cause indicating why the connectionrequest is rejected.
 46. The network of claim 39, wherein thecommunication connection is associated with a multicast service.
 47. Thenetwork of claim 39, wherein the response message comprising connectionsetup information is an RRC connection setup message.
 48. The network ofclaim 39, wherein the group reject message is an RRC group rejectmessage.
 49. A method of radio communication between a plurality ofterminals and a network in a mobile communication system, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving connection requests from a firstplurality of terminals at the network; determining, at the network,which of the first plurality of terminals should setup a communicationconnection; generating, at the network, a list identifying a secondplurality of terminals for which a connection request is not granted;sending a single group reject message from the network to the first andsecond plurality of terminals, the message including the list; andreceiving the group reject message at each of the first and secondplurality of terminals such that the each of the second plurality ofterminals ceases to send connection requests to the network.
 50. Themethod of claim 49, wherein the connection requests comprise RRCconnection requests.
 51. The method of claim 49, wherein determiningwhich of the first plurality of terminals should setup a communicationconnection is performed in accordance with at least one of availableradio resources and terminal priority.
 52. The method of claim 49,wherein the communication connection comprises an RRC connection betweena terminal and the network.
 53. The method of claim 49, wherein the listcomprises initial UE identities.
 54. The method of claim 49, wherein thelist is generated within a particular time period after the networkreceives a first connection request.
 55. The method of claim 49, whereinthe single group reject message comprises a rejection cause indicatingwhy the connection request is rejected.
 56. The method of claim 49,wherein the communication connection is associated with a multicastservice.